Apparatus for softening shoes or parts thereof



May 4, 1926. 1,583,101

, F. RICKS APBARATUS FOR, SOFIENING SHOES OR PARTS THEREOF Fild Nov. 4, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 4,1926. 1 1,583,101.

F. RlcKs APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING SHOES on wars THEREOF Filed Nov. 4. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patente Ma r I FED STATES ATENT FFlC-E.

FRED RlCKS, 0F LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOB TO UNITED SIZQEJMIACH-INEBY COR- PORATION, OF ZATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR SQFTENI'NG SHOES OR FABTS THEREOF.

Application filed November To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED Rrons, a sub ect of the King of England, residing at Leicester, Leicestershire, England, have invented certain Improvements in Apparatus for Softening Shoes or Parts Thereof, of which the following description, in connection with the accon'ipauying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to apparatus for softening those parts, especially stiffening members, of boots and shoes that require to be pulled over the bottoms of the lasts to conform the uppers to the lasts.

Under some conditions it is desirable to soften the stiffening members prior to the pulling-over operatiomas for example, when the toe stiffener consists of an u'nforined blank of relatively stiff material comprising a layer of felt impregnated-with a stir ening compound. A well-known and extensively used material for this purpose becomes soft and pliant when heated to a t-enr perature of 150 degrees F andthe pulling-- over and lasting operations are expedited and the quality of the shoes'improved, by heating such stiffening members immediately prior to said operations respectively.

Accordingly an object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus for administering this preliminary treatment.

A feature of the invention consists in a plurality of tiers of individual treating chambers and means for supplying individual currents of the treating medium to said chambers respectively from a common source, the individuality of the treating chambers and of the currents or columns of treating medium affording a greater degree of control and uniformity of treatment than would be possible were the treatment collective rather than individual,

Independently of the aforesaid feature, another object of the invention is to conserve and distribute the heat used for treatment so that the articles of work in one tier will receive substantially the same degree of treatment asthose in another. Inthis respect a feature of the'invent-ion consists in an apparatus of the character mentioned having means for distributing the heated treating medium so that the used medium Serial .No. 539,053.

rising from the lower treating localities will mingle with and supple'ment'the unused medium flowing to the upper treating localities, thereby compensating for the loss of heat by radiation and absorption.

The above mentioned' features ma be used advantageously in apparatus using dry heat for any desired purpose and also in apparatus in which heat and moist vap'or are used. Accordingly the invention is herein disclosed in various forms to show its adaptability to both kindsof treatment. Moreover, the aforesaid features may be used advantageously to dry shoes or'ot'her articles to soften the shoes prior to pullingshaped, portions of the apparatus being broken away; i

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the app arz tus shown by F ig. 1, and includes assembled shoes andlaists placed in position for treatment fFig. 3 isa perspective view of one of the detachable tiers or un'its comprising a plurality of treating nests or chambers;

Fig. l: is a vertical section of another form of apparatus for the same purpose as that shown byFigs. 1 an'd'2; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a portion of still another form of apparatus, in this use the purpose being to provide for softening the stiffeners in shoes that have been pulled over and partly shaped to conform to the last.

Referringfirstto the formshown by Figs.

'1, 2 and 3, the-casing of the apparatus is indicated at 10 and is represented as made of sheet metal. It is preferably divided by a plurality of partitions 9 (the illustrated design having three such partitions) into separate spaces corresponding in" number and arrangement to the number and arrangement to the treating chambers in each tier. These spaces are, in turn, divided into front and rear sections by partitions 11, which serve respectively a lower tier and an upper tier of shoes 12.

Shelves 13, 13 are provided to support the shoes so that the toe portions of the lasts will project under walls 14, let of the casing. At the treating localities the casing is provided with two detachable units or boxes 15, 15 one of which is shown sepa rately by Fig. 3. Each box is divided by vertical partitions to provide individual treating chambers for the units of work, the partitions comprising preferably sheet metal plates 16 and covering layers 17 of heatinsulating material such as asbestos. These partitions are arranged to register with the partitions 9. The bottoms of the boxes are made of wire fabric 18, and the front edge Y of each bottom preferably is capped by a guard such as a bar 19 of wood. The bars 19 protect the lasts and the operatives hand from being scratched by the wire fabric and are adapted to engage the instep portions of the lasts to arrest the latter when they have been moved into the desired positions for treatment of the box toes. The

bars also support, in part at least, the vamps 20 and prevent them from contacting with the hot sheet'metal of the casing. A Bunsen gas burner conslsting of a pipe 21 extends through the lower part of the.

casing from side to side, one end thereof, as shown in Fig. 1, being provided with a coupling 22 forconnection with a supply pipe. This burner is arranged directly under the partition 11 and the lower edge of the partition preferably touches the burner which is provided with a row of burner holes in front of the partition and with a row of burner holes behind the partition. Jets of flame are indicated at 23 and 24. Air for combustion enters the lower part of the casing through ports 25 some of l which are'in the front and some of which are in the rear wall. The products of combustion from the front of the burner and the air heated thereby are deflected by a curved baffle plate 26, and after passing between this baffle and the adjacent wall 1-1 they enter the treating chambers of the lower treating box 15 through the meshes of the wire fabric 18. The products of combustion from the rear part of the burner and the air heated thereby pass directly to the upper treating box 15, being deflected forwardly by a baffle plate 36, and in doing so create an updraft which reclaims the heated air and gases rising from the lower treating box. The hot air and gases rising from the lower box, after passing the treating localities, flow around the front edge of the top of the box and re-enter the casing through a passageway formed by a wall 27 and an inclined wall 28 and thus become mingled with the hot air and gases rising directly to the upper treating box. This reclaiming of the hot air and gases from the lower treating box increases the efliciency of the apparatus to an extent that compensates for the greater distance through. which the products of combustion are required to travel to the upper treating box. The casing is further provided with a top wall 29 overhanging the upper treating box and inclining from front to rear to guide the final waste products of combustion to one or more discharge ports 30 in the rear wall.

Each compartment of each treating ,box is adapted to receive the toe portion of a vamp, and the total capacity of this form of apparatus is eight shoes at one time. The air ports 25 admit sufficient air to temper the products of combustion so that the heat-will not burn the leather parts while softening thev stitfeners.

A. modified form of apparatus for the same purpose as that above described, but provided with three tiers of treating chambers, is shown in Fig. 4, the construction and arrangement of the treating chambers being substantially the same as those heretofore described. This form of apparatus is provided with three separate burners 11, one for each. tier of treating chambers. Baffle plates 42 overhang these burners respectivcly to direct the hot gases toward the front of the treating chambers, while vertical partitions 43, arranged respectively in vertical register with the partitions that sep arate the treating chambers, divide the hot gases into separate columns corresponding in number and location to the treating chambers. In this construction also the hot gases circulating in the treating chambers are controlled by the top and rear walls of said chambers to escape and rise only at the front after circulating in the chambers to heat the work on all sides.

Baffle plate A l causes the waste gases from the lowest tier to mingle with those supplied by the burner next above, the treating chambers of the second tier therefore receiving not only the hot gases furnished by the sec ond burner but also the waste gases from the first tier. In like manner the baffle plate 45 overhanging the second tier causes the waste gases from the latter to mingle with the hot gases furnished by the third burner and to enter the chambers of the third tier. The ultimate waste gases are directed to the rear by bafi'le plates 46 and escape through an opening 17 which may or may not be provided with a flue, as preferred. The front of the casing is provided with openings 48 ad jacent to the burners respectively, to permit lighting the burners and to admit whatever air may be necessary to promote combustion.

Shelves for three tiers of lasts are indicated at 49. Each shelf is supported bytwo by pivots 51 to permit adjusting them up and down relatively to the treating chambers to suitthe requirements of the pieces of work. For this purpose each arm is pro vided with a suitable clamping device such as a bolt and wing nut indicated at 52, and the wall of the casing is provided with a slot through which the bolt extends and by which a range of adjustment is afiorded.

Certain features of the two forms heretofore described are embodied also in the form of apparatus shown by Fig. 5 which is designed more especially to soften the toe ends of shoes that have been partially shaped to conform to the lasts. Moreover, this form of apparatus may conveniently be combined with means for supplying moist vapor in addition to heat for treating the work. For example, the duct may supply a treating medium composed of hot moist vapor and hot products of combustion supplied and regulated by suitable generating apparatus such as that disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 530,151, filed January 18, 1922, by Ricks and Richards. This apparatus is provided with two tiers of individual treating chambers 56 each adapted to receive the toe end of a shoe the chambers of each tier being separated from each other by vertical partitions. Each treating chamber of the lower tier is supplied with treating medium by an individual duct 55, and as the treating medium issues from the upper end of the duct it is divided into two columns by an inclined bafiie plate 54: so that the forward column may enter the treating chamber immediately above it, while the rear column passes to the rear without entering said chamber. The rear column rises through a passage formed by the rear wall 57 of the treating chamber, a

partition-58 parallel thereto, and the two partitions at the sides of the treating chamher. The rear column proceeds thence into the corresponding treating chamber of the upper tier but before entering said chamber it is supplemented by the reclaimed waste treating medium from the registering chamber of the lower tier. The combined columns of treating medium, after treating the work in the upper chamber, escape from the latter through an opening 59 in the rear and are conducted by a passage 60 to an outlet at the top of the casing. The baflle plate 54 may be made adjustable from front to rear, and vice versa, to regulate the proportions of treating medium that will flow through the lower treating chamber and by-pass respectively, and such adjustment may be effected by bending the lower margin of the plate or by adjusting the rod to which its upper margin is fastened.

An advantage common to all the construc- 'tlons herein shown is that the treating medium is divided into separate columns and directed to separate treating chambers arranged in a plurality of tiers, with the result that it is controlled uniformly and provides substantially uniform and constant treatment of the work regardless of locality. This independence of the several columns of treating medium one from another minimizes the effect of drafts (which can not be avoided under factory conditions) and renders the apparatus more efficient than it would be were the treating medium permitted to remain an undivided body up to the points of entering the treating chambers through their wire gauze bottoms.

Another advantage common to all the constructions shown is that the waste treating medium from a lower tier is reclaimed and used to supplement that used for the first time in an upper tier. The practical effect of this feature in the forms shown by Figs. 1, 2 and 5 is that the reclaimed treating medium compensates for the loss of heat by radiation from the treating medium that is compelled to travel a longer distance from the source of supplyto the locality where it is'used for the first time, and maintains a high degree of 'efli'ciencywith regard to uniformity of treatment at the different levels. Its economical advantage is also utilized in the form of apparatus shown by Fig. 4:,although here a plurality of sources of supply are localized adjacent to the tiers respec- 1 tively. Since the unused treating medium for the intermediate tier and the top tier does not have to travel any longer distance from the sources of supply to the respective treating chambers than that supplied to the lowest tier, the fuel consumption of the inter" mediate burner and the top burner may be correspondingly reduced to offset the supplemental heat obtained from the reclaimed treating medium and thereby maintain substantially uniform conditions in the several tiers.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: 1. An apparatus for treating shoes, com-, prising a casing having a plurality of separate treating chambers, means in said casing for generating a hot treating medium, and means for dividing such treating medium into separate bodies and conducting the latter independently of each other to the treating chambers.

2. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing having a plurality of separate treating chambers, a burner in said casing, and means for dividing the hot prodnets of combustion into separate bodies and conducting the latter independently of each other to the treating chambers.

3. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing, a detachable unit includ- .ing a series of separate treating chambers, means for supplying said casing with a treating medium, and means for dividing such treating medium into a plurality of separate bodies and conducting the latter independently oi each other to said treating chambers respectively.

4. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing, a plurality of detachable units each including a plurality of separate treating chambers, said units being arranged at diiierent levels, means for supplying a hot treating medium to said casing, means for dividing said treating medium into separate bodies and conducting the latter to said units respectively, and means for directing the waste treating medium from a lower unit to that flowing to an upper unit.

5. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing having tiers of treating chambers for the shoes, means for supplying a hot treating medium to the interior of said casing externally of said treating chambers, and means for contr lling said treating medium to cause unused portions of it to enter all the said treating chambers and to cause waste treating medium from a lower tier to mingle with the unused portions flowing to an upper tier.

6. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing having tiers of treating chambers for the shoes, means for supply ing treating medium'to the interior of said casing externally of said treating chambers, means for controlling said treating medum to cause portions thereof to flow successively through treating chambers of a lower tier and through treating chambers of an upper tier, and means for causing unused portions of said treating medium to flow through treating chambers of an upper tier with those portions that have passed through treating chambers of a lower tier.

7. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing having tiers of treating chambers for the shoes, means for supplying unused hot treating medium to each of said chambers, and means for causing waste treating medium from the treating chambers of a lower tier to flow into the treating chambers of a higher tier.

8. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing having upper and lower treating chambers for the shoes, means for supplying unused hot treating medium to each of said chambers, and means for causing waste treating medium from a lower treating chamber to flow into an upper treating chamber.

9. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing, heating means therein,

means for supporting a plurality of tiers of shoes over said heating means so that heat rising from the latter will pass: said tiers successively and heat the shoes, and means arranged to supply additional heat between said tiers.

10. An apparatus for treating shoes, comprising a casing, heating means the-rein, meansfor supporting a plurality of tiers of shoes over said heating means so that heated air rising from said heating means will pass said tiers successively and heat the shoes, and means for supplying additional heated air between said tiers.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FRED KICKS. 

